Third Way Perspectives
Archive for May, 2010
A Carbon Price is a Bet America Needs to Make
May 26th, 2010
This piece was originally posted on Huffington Post.
China today is driven by one number: eight. That’s the annual percentage growth in GDP China needs to lift the more than one-third of its population still mired in poverty into the middle class. That’s 600 million people in a country of 1.3 billion.
And how does China plan to do this?
Have Degree: Will Work for Food
May 24th, 2010
A college diploma was once a permanent ticket to job security. But today’s graduates are seeing many more rejection letters than paychecks in what’s become the worst job market for new graduates in decades.
Crist, Rubio Target Disaffected Voters
May 8th, 2010
This piece was originally published in National Journal.
Right now, there are two sources of discontent in the country. One is anti-government. The other is anti-politics. Both are on the Florida ballot this year.
Key to U.S. growth is building wealth, not entitlements
May 6th, 2010
This piece was originally published in Politico.
For much of the 20th century, progressives put their political capital into building a safety net to protect Americans against market excesses. They aimed for economic security from cradle to retirement.
Today, many on the left say that health care reform is just one more step in this effort.
But it would be a mistake for Democrats to make expanding the entitlement state the defining goal in the 21st century as well.
Rather, they should focus on a new signature cause: policies that build national and individual wealth.
Profiling Arizona’s Immigration Law
May 1st, 2010
This piece was originally published in National Journal.
Politics is about seizing opportunities.
When a California health insurance company hiked individual premiums as much as 39 percent in February, congressional Democrats seized the opportunity to showcase the urgency of health care reform. Last month, when the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Goldman Sachs alleging fraud, Democrats seized the opportunity to build momentum for financial regulation.
Now Democrats are warning that the federal government had better pass reasonable legislation to deal with illegal immigration, or else. Or else what? Or else more states could pass Arizona-style immigration laws that threaten to turn America into a police state. The Arizona statute authorizes the police to detain anyone who appears to be an illegal immigrant and isn’t carrying documents that prove otherwise.